Carton for fluid containers



May 8, 1962 R. F. MEYERSON CARTON FOR FLUID CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Feb. 23, 1960 m T W N GE 1 km & m? ww m? 1 1111 111 m? u m? QNNe um h pm u u I I l l I l lll lllllllqlllll l-lnllllllllll 6w mm ROBERT FMEYERSON a/iagw Wi MW ATTORNEYS M y 8, 1962 R. F. MEYERSON 3,033,356

CARTON FOR FLUID CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 23, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L 1 llI IN V EN TOR. ROBERT F MEYERSON BY ermm/ wmwflm Z T ATTORNEYS UniteStates This invention pertains to cartons and more particularly to acarton which is especially suited for use with handled vessels and moreespecially vessels having bail type handles.

Many materials are packaged and sold in vessels which include a handle.Paint and other protective coatings are typical examples of suchmaterials. (For example, paint is commonly sold in gallon containers.These containers are usually metal vessels which have a wire carryinghandle or bail. With paint, and other materials sold in similar vessels,n sale of more than one can to a single customer is quite common. Thepresent invention has as a primary purpose the facilitating of carryingmore than one can as well as the facilitating of storage and display ofpaint and similar products.

In its preferred form the present invention is an attractive displaycarton which positions a pair of bailed vessels in vertically alignedrelationship. The carton retains these two vessels in this verticallyaligned relationship for storage and display purposes. It also retainsthe vessels in this position for delivery to the customer. Moreimportant, with present day merchandising, about 60 percent of the paintindustrys sales are to the socalled do-it-yourself market. Often thedo-it-yourselfer carries the products he has purchased with him as heleaves the store. This invention is exceptionally well suited for use inthis market since it facilitates carrying a number of vessels of paintor other material.

In the disclosed arrangement, a pair of flat top and bailed vessels arepositioned one on top of the other. They are disposed within a cartonwhich maintains them in this vertical relationship. The carton includesa top and a carton handle projecting above the top for lifting thecarton. Preferably this carton handle is disposed along a plane ofsymmetry so that it is centered to permit lock stacking, i.e. with onecarton supported equally by each of two cartons below it.

The hail of the top vessel projects through the carton top. This bail ispositioned with the carton handle and preferably actually within it.With the bail and car-ton handle so positioned, a person picking up thecarton will actually pick up the carton and the top vessel with the samelifting action. Thus, when carrying the two vessels and the carton, aperson is actually directly lifting the upper of the two vessels eventhough it is within the carton. With this unique arrangement, the cartonhandle need only support the weight of the lower vessel and the cartonitself. As will be apparent, the carton bottom need only be strongenough to support one of the vessels.

Accordingly, one of the principal objects of this invention is toprovide a novel and improved relatively light-weight carton forpositioning and carrying vessels in which a vessel is supported by thevessels handle when the carton is picked up.

Expressed conversely, one of the principal objects of the invention isto provide a novel and improved handled vessel carton in which onevessel is not supported by the carton but rather by the vessels handlewhen the carrier lifts the carton by the carton handle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedcarton made in accordance with the other objects of the invention whichis also a merchandising and display package.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide atent "ice a noveland improved carton which is especially suited for carrying a pluralityof bailed vessels containing relatively heavy materials such as paint.

Another more special object of this invention is to provide a novel andimproved carton made in accordance with the preceding objects whichfacilitates the stacking of a plurality of cartons and contained vesselsfor display purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedcarton in which at least one of the vessels contained within the cartonis lifted at the same time the carton is to'reduce the weight and strainimposed upon the carton when the vessels and carton are being carried.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an assembled carton;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a sheet cardboard or the like cut to a shapewhich may be folded into a finished carton; and,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of the assembled carton taken along theline 3-3 of FIGURE 2 with two cans positioned therein for carrying.

In FIGURE 2, a plan view of a carton blank is shown. The carton blankhas a rectangular main section 11. The rectangular main section 11 isscored, as indicated by the dotted lines, to divide the main sectioninto two large and spaced rectangular sections 12, 32 and two small andspaced rectangular sections 22, 42 of equal length. Each section isspaced from the section of equal size in order that the carton, whenfolded, is rectangular in cross section. The widths of the smallsections 22, 42 are substantially equal to the diameter of the vesselwhich the carton is designed to carry. The widths of the large sections12, 32 are of greater width to accommodate both the vessel which thecarton is designed to carry and handles which project from oppositesides of the vessel.

The carton blank has a connecting lip 14 extending from one side edge ofthe main section 11. The lip 14 is adapted to be secured to the mainsection along the opposite side edge.

One of the rectangular sections, preferably one of the large sections32, has a pair of windows 35 cut therein. These windows permit articlespositioned in the carton to be viewed for identification and display.

Rectangular sections .12, 32 have interlocking bottom flaps 16, 36extending respectively from the lower edges. The interlocking bottomflaps 16, 36 are provided with interlocking tabs 17, 37 respectively.The small rectangular sections 22, 42 have bottom flaps 26, 46respectively extending from the lower edges. The flaps 26, 46 are eachof generally rectangular shape. The large rectangular sections 12, 32also have top handle flaps 18, 38 respectively extending from the upperedge of the large sections. The top handle flaps 18, 38 are providedhandle tabs 19, 39 respectively. The handle tabs 19, 39 have handle gripcut-outs 10, 30 respectively.

The small rectangular sections 22, 42 have bail receiving top flaps 28,48 respectively extending from the top edges of the small sections. Thebail receiving top flaps 28, 48 have bail receiving slits 20, 40respectively, which terminate at bail handle embracing apertures 25, 45respectively. The slits 25, 45 bisect the flaps 28, 48 respectively.

The described carton blank can be folded and formed into a carryingcarton for two vessels stacked one upon the other. The first step informing the carton is to fold the blank along each of the scoresidentified by dotted lines. The carton is folded such that therectangular sections 12, 22, 32, 42 form a body having a rectangularcross section. The connecting lip 14 is secured to section 12 to retainthe body in this generally rectangular shape. This rectangular shapedefines a vessel receiving chamber 50. The bottom flaps 16, 26, 35, 46are then folded together and the tabs 17, 37 are interlocked to form abottom wall. This wall closes the chamber 5% at the bottom and forms avessel supporting base.

Vessels 51, 52, which in the disclosed embodiment are one-gallon paintcans, are inserted in the carton body through the open top and the lowervessel 51 is allowed to come to rest on the bottom wall as a next stepin assembly. Bail-type handle 53 of the lower vessel 51 is positionedagainst the side of the vessel. The upper vessel or can 52 rests on thetop of the lower vessel 51. The upper can 52 has a bail-type handle 54which extends above the top of the can and out of the top of the carton.The two bail receiving top flaps 28, 43 are folded in such that thehandle 54 projects through the top flap bail apertures 25, 45. Finally,the top flaps 18, 38 are folded in, the handle tabs 19, 39 are foldedback at 90 degrees to the top flaps 18, 38 and secured together to forma carton handle.

With this described arrangement, the bail 54 of the upper can 52 ispositioned between the handle tab 19 and the handle tab 39. Thus, it canbe seen that if the carton is picked up by a person placing his handthrough the handle grip cut-outs 10, 30 and lifting the carton, thebottom vessel 51 will be supported by the handle tabs 19, 39, and theupper vessel 52 will be supported by its own bail 54. Thus, for a cartonof any given strength, the weight which may be supported is doubled bythis construction because the weight of the upper vessel is entirelysupported by its own bail-type handle 54.

For product identification, usually the additional advantage ofattractively decorating the carton will provide a point of purchasepromotional assist for merchandising the product. Further, the customerin carrying the product from a store will carry with him an eye-catchingdevice which may assist in promoting further sales.

Although the invention has been described in its pre ferred form with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example,and that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a pair of bailed vessels, a carton surrounding saidvessels and maintaining them in predetermined relative positions, saidcarton including a base, a top, and side walls connecting the top andbase,

at least one of the side walls being in substantial abutment with thesides of each of said vessels, the carton including an upstanding handlesecured thereto and disposed above said top wall, said carton topincluding a pair of spaced bail receiving apertures, one of the vesselsincluding a bail projecting through said apertures and into said handlefor simultaneous gripping whereby to provide a device in which thehandle and the one vessel bail will be gripped simultaneously such thatthe one vessel will be supported by its own bail and the other vesseland the carton will be supported by the handle.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein one of the side walls includes anelongated vertical opening means through which both vessels are visible.

3. In combination a pair of bailed vessels in vertically stackedrelationship, a carton surrounding said vessels and maintaining suchrelationship, said carton including a base, a top, and side wallsconnecting the top and base and substantially abutting the sides of saidvessels, the carton including an upstanding handle projecting above saidtop wall and disposed substantially symmetrically about an imaginaryvertical line extending through the center of gravity of the carton andvessels, said carton top including a pair of spaced bail receivingapertures, the bail of the uppermost vessel projecting through saidapertures and into said handle for simultaneous gripping whereby toprovide a device in which the handle and the uppermost vessel bail willbe gripped simultaneously such that the uppermost vessel will besupported by its own bail and the other vessel and the carton will besupported by the handle.

4. In combination, a carton for carrying at least one vessel; saidcarton including a base wall, a top wall spaced above the base wall, aplurality of side walls connecting the base and top walls to define avessel receiving chamber for retaining at least one vessel, a bailedvessel in the chamber, said carton also including a handle disposedalong a plane of symmetry of said top wall, said handle being secured toand projecting outwardly from the top wall, the top wall includingvessel bail aperture means with the bail of the vessel projectingtherethrough, said means and bail being aligned with said carton handlesuch that the bail is adjacent the carton handle for simultaneousgripping such that the vessel will be supported by its bail and thecarton by its handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,714,982 Strauss Aug. 9, 1955 2,785,846 Weiner Mar. 19, 1957 FOREIGNPATENTS 23,506 Great Britain of 1914

